Chi-Chi in a pink dress with mauve sleeves, standing by the wooden door of a rounded house, in front of lush green mountains

Chi-Chi: Goku's Wife and Gohan's Mother

CharacterGoku's FamilyPrincess of Mount Frypan

Chi-Chi is the daughter of the Ox-King and the princess of Mount Frypan. As a little girl, she crosses paths with young Goku and makes him promise to come back and marry her; he doesn't understand, but promises. Years later, she finds him again at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, and the promise turns into a marriage proposal. The mother of Gohan and Goten, she puts school before fighting. Here's a look back at her childhood, her marriage, her role as a mother, her appearances in Super, GT and Daima, and her voices.

A warrior princess as a child, then the wife of Goku and a mother devoted to her sons' future: Chi-Chi holds a special place in Dragon Ball. Here's the story of the Ox-King's daughter, from the promise she wrings out of young Goku all the way to Dragon Ball Daima.

Contents

The Little Princess of Mount Frypan

Chi-Chi first appears in chapter 11 of the Dragon Ball manga, then in episode 7 of the anime, which aired in Japan on April 9, 1986. She's the princess of Mount Frypan and the daughter of the Ox-King, a king with a terrifying reputation.

As a child, she wears a helmet topped with a blade shaped like an ax head, which doubles as her weapon, along with a bikini, gloves, boots and a cape; in the anime, the bikini is blue, and the helmet, gloves and boots are pink. The blade detaches and can be thrown like a boomerang, and the helmet fires laser beams: in chapter 11, chased by a tyrannosaurus, she decapitates it with one throw of her blade, then blasts what's left of it with a laser shot.

The Ox-King promises Goku his Dragon Ball if he finds his daughter and brings back the Bashō Fan from Master Roshi, a fan that's supposed to put out the fire on the mountain. Contrary to her father's reputation, Chi-Chi has a pure heart: she can ride the Flying Nimbus. Mid-flight, Goku pats her between the legs to check that she's a girl; she hits him, then secretly falls in love with him.

When it's time to part, she asks Goku to come back when she's grown up so she can become his bride. He doesn't understand, but promises to come back for whatever he's being offered. In the manga, Chi-Chi doesn't show up again until the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, which makes it more believable that Goku forgot; the anime adds several reunions, notably during the Red Ribbon Army arc.

Young Chi-Chi, in a pink bladed helmet, blue bikini and cape, runs across a meadow, chased by a purple dinosaur
In episode 7 of the anime, little Chi-Chi runs from a dinosaur, wearing the outfit from her first appearance: pink bladed helmet, blue bikini, gloves, boots and cape.

✨ For young Chi-Chi, the bladed helmet is the piece that makes the whole outfit; to complete yours, check out our Dragon Ball accessories.

The Promise, the 23rd Tournament and the Wedding

Years later, Chi-Chi shows up at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament without saying who she is. In the anime, she competes in a blue Chinese dress over red pants, with a red belt and her hair in a ponytail.

During her match against Goku, Master Roshi notices that her moves resemble those of the Turtle School. Goku beats her without touching her: the shockwave from his punch blasts her out of the ring.

When she reveals that she's the Ox-King's daughter, Goku remembers that he thought a “bride” was something you eat; but a promise is a promise, and he tells her they're getting married. In the anime, this match and the marriage proposal take up episode 137 of Dragon Ball, which aired in Japan on December 7, 1988.

The anime adds a final arc in which Goku and Chi-Chi search for the Bashō Fan to put out the flames on Mount Frypan, which has caught fire again. The Ox-King stays behind in the burning castle to protect the wedding dress of Chi-Chi's mother, which the young woman wears in turn on her own wedding day. Their wedding closes out episode 153, the last of the series, which aired on April 19, 1989. In the manga, the cover illustration for chapter 171 shows the newlyweds riding in their wedding car.

Goku in a white suit and bow tie, Chi-Chi in a pale pink wedding dress, veil and flower crown, arm in arm outdoors
Goku and Chi-Chi on their wedding day, in the anime: she's wearing her mother's wedding dress, the very dress the Ox-King protected by staying in the burning castle.
Red cushion cover on a blue sofa, printed with young Chi-Chi in her pink helmet and adult Chi-Chi in a blue dress and red pants

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Young Chi-Chi in her bladed helmet and Chi-Chi in her blue dress from the 23rd Tournament: both eras of Goku's wife come together on one cushion cover.

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A Mother Who Puts School Above All Else

Shy, sweet and timid at first, Chi-Chi grows up into a real tomboy, tough and fiery, prone to memorable fits of rage. In Dragon Ball Z, she acts like a “kyōiku mama,” the mother obsessed with academic success: her sons, Gohan above all, have to study and stay away from their father's life of fighting.

During the battle on Namek, a manga panel shows her sitting at the table with the Ox-King, wondering whether Gohan is studying hard. In the anime, the tutor she hired for Gohan whips him and belittles his work at the slightest mistake; the day he lashes the boy across the face right in front of her, she's outraged and throws the man out the window. When she sees Gohan's blond Super Saiyan hair, she thinks he's turned into a delinquent; the anime adds that she suspects him of dyeing his hair and cries about it for hours. In the movie Super Android 13!, she tries to keep Gohan from going off to fight, citing his studies; he asks her whether she'd rather let Goku die, then flies off, leaving her in shock.

When Goku comes down with the heart virus, she nurses him and, with Yamcha, moves him to Kame House to hide him from the androids. Goku later dies during the Cell Games protecting the Earth: Chi-Chi is widowed for the second time (her husband had already died fighting Raditz) and breaks down in tears. She raises Gohan and her second son, Goten, born shortly after the Cell Saga, on her own. In an anime-only flashback, Goten transforms into a Super Saiyan while training with her.

In the manga, believing Gohan has been killed by Buu, she slaps the monster and blames him for killing her son; Buu turns her into an egg, then crushes her underfoot. She's later brought back to life with the Namekian Dragon Balls.

Young Gohan writing at his desk between two stacks of books while Chi-Chi, in a purple dress and orange headscarf, brings him a glass of juice
Chi-Chi brings a glass of juice to Gohan, hunched over his homework between two stacks of books: as far as she's concerned, her son should be studying rather than following Goku into battle.

✏️ In the anime, Gohan's tutor won't let a single mistake in his exercises slide; to copy yours out neatly, grab one of our Dragon Ball pens.

Chi-Chi in Super, GT and Daima

At the start of the Dragon Ball Super anime, since the Ox-King is running out of money to support the family, she makes Goku get a job: he becomes a radish farmer. In episode 1, Mr. Satan brings the family 100 million zeni; Chi-Chi then lets Goku go off to train at King Kai's.

Now a grandmother, she insists in the anime that Pan be raised as a sweet little girl, so she won't turn into “one more idiot who only thinks about fighting.” And when Goku swears he'll never forgive Zamasu, aka Goku Black, for stealing his body and killing Chi-Chi and Goten, she panics, until he explains that it happened in another timeline.

In the Dragon Ball Super manga, during the Granolah arc, two visitors from space show up at her house to ask for Goku and Vegeta's help, promising Chi-Chi her own weight in a rare, precious material. At the start of Dragon Ball Daima, Gomah's wish makes everyone who fought Majin Buu young again, along with their friends: Chi-Chi becomes a little girl once more.

In Dragon Ball GT, the anime-only sequel, Chi-Chi is in her fifties; when Super 17 threatens the Earth, she heads into battle armed with a broom.

A delighted Chi-Chi in front of an open briefcase full of banknotes, between little Goten and Goku in work clothes, arms crossed, in their living room
In episode 1 of Dragon Ball Super, Chi-Chi is thrilled by the 100 million zeni Mr. Satan brought over, as Goten and Goku look on, the latter in his work clothes.

Chi-Chi's Creation, Name and Voices

Akira Toriyama explains that for the daughter of the Ox-King, whose Japanese name means “Bull Demon King,” he was looking for a girl's name connected to cows: hence “chichi,” milk. In Japanese, the word also means breasts, and Master Roshi makes a pun on it in the manga; the Latin American Spanish dub even renamed Chi-Chi “Milk.”

Her childhood outfit is reminiscent of Pola's, the heroine of an earlier Toriyama story, Pola & Roid. The character is also said to be inspired by Princess Iron Fan from the Chinese novel Journey to the West. In a 2003 interview, Toriyama admitted he didn't much like Chi-Chi: tired of drawing her, he married her off to Goku to force himself to keep at it, “as a kind of punishment,” he said with a laugh.

In Japanese, Mayumi Shō voices her in Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z; Naoko Watanabe takes over from episode 88 of Dragon Ball Z, then voices her in GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super. In Dragon Ball Daima, her rejuvenated version is voiced by Ai Kakuma.

In English, Cynthia Cranz is Chi-Chi's main voice in Funimation's dub: she voices her as a teenager in Dragon Ball, then as an adult in Dragon Ball Z, GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super. Laura Bailey voices her as a little girl in Funimation's Dragon Ball, and Brittany Lauda voices her mini version in Dragon Ball Daima. In the Ocean dubs, Andrea Libman voiced her as a child in Dragon Ball and Laara Sadiq as an adult in Dragon Ball Z.

Chi-Chi at a Glance

Key fact Chi-Chi
Japanese name チチ Chichi, from 乳, “milk”
First appearance Chapter 11 of the manga; episode 7 of Dragon Ball, April 9, 1986
Family Ox-King (father), Goku (husband), Gohan and Goten (sons), Pan (granddaughter)
Origin Princess of Mount Frypan
English spelling Chi-Chi, in Funimation's dub and Viz's English edition of the manga
Voices Mayumi Shō, then Naoko Watanabe (Japanese); Cynthia Cranz, Laura Bailey (English)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who is Chi-Chi in Dragon Ball?
    She's the daughter of the Ox-King and the princess of Mount Frypan. She becomes Goku's wife and the mother of Gohan and Goten.
  • How did Chi-Chi and Goku get married?
    As a little girl, Chi-Chi makes Goku promise to come back and marry her; he doesn't understand, but promises. At the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, she reveals who she is after their match, and Goku announces that they're getting married. The ceremony itself is shown in the final episode of the Dragon Ball anime.
  • Why does Chi-Chi want Gohan to study?
    In Dragon Ball Z, she acts like a mother obsessed with academic success: she doesn't want Gohan to pick up his father's dangerous habits, or to grow up without the education Goku never had.
  • Can Chi-Chi fight?
    Yes. As a child, she fights with her helmet's blade and laser. At the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Master Roshi notices that her moves resemble those of the Turtle School.
  • Where does Chi-Chi's name come from?
    For the daughter of the Ox-King, whose Japanese name means “Bull Demon King,” Akira Toriyama wanted a name connected to cows: “chichi” means milk in Japanese.
  • Who voices Chi-Chi in English?
    Cynthia Cranz, in Funimation's dub: she voices her as a teenager in Dragon Ball, then as an adult in Dragon Ball Z, GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super. Laura Bailey voices her as a little girl in Dragon Ball. In Japanese, it's Mayumi Shō, then Naoko Watanabe.

👗 In the anime, Chi-Chi takes on Goku at the 23rd Tournament in a Chinese dress and red pants; to put together your own outfit, browse our Dragon Ball clothing.

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